


no one loves the light (like a blind man)

by DesertLily



Series: Crazy Little Thing Called Love [3]
Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast), The Mechanisms (Band)
Genre: Anger, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Blind Character, Blind Melanie King, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gender Non-Conforming Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, Hurt/Comfort, Immortal Melanie King, It's Elias, Melanie needs a hug, Minor Character Death, Multi, Nightmares, Nonbinary Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, Polyamory, Post-The Watcher's Crown (The Magnus Archives), Vomiting, Whumptober, Whumptober 2020, everyone is dating everyone - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-13
Updated: 2020-10-13
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:35:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,205
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26982262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DesertLily/pseuds/DesertLily
Summary: Melanie King was stubborn. She always had been and she was determined that she always would be. She had survived blinding herself. She had survived the apocalypse. She was too stubborn to stay dead. Melanie was also too stubborn to admit when she wasn’t okay.
Relationships: Georgie Barker/Melanie King, Georgie Barker/The Mechanisms Ensemble, Melanie King & Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, Melanie King/Marius von Raum
Series: Crazy Little Thing Called Love [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1934770
Comments: 2
Kudos: 29
Collections: Mechanisms and Magnus Crossovers that maintain the integrity of mechanisms lore, Whumptober 2020





	no one loves the light (like a blind man)

**Author's Note:**

> This is essentially the Marius/Melanie scene from 'all you need is love'. This can probably be read on its own but I'd recommend reading that first for context! Written for the "No, Stop" prompt for Whumptober

Melanie didn’t regret the decision to blind herself. Not really. It had freed her from the Beholding; from that which still held a grip on some of those dear to her. To her, the loss of sight became a symbol of defiance. It was her rebellion. It was her escape. It had been her giant ‘fuck you’ to both Elias and the Beholding. They would not control her.  _ Nothing would ever control her again _ . The only person or being that would ever dictate with Melanie King did would be herself. She had sliced the strings clean off. She was no one’s puppet. Though, that didn’t mean she was heartless. She would still help or do things if someone (mostly Georgie) asked her nicely enough. But she did not take well to orders. Least of all from the fucking Mechanisms. Sure, they had saved them all from a post-apocalyptic Earth and that was great! But that didn’t mean she would listen to them. Fuck them all if they thought she’d do anything they said. Her defiance of authority bled into how she viewed them. They were just as much her captors as Elias was. Melanie survived and got by because they decided she could. She had no true autonomy. Not really. It didn’t matter how many times the others insisted otherwise. 

There were only two things in Melanie’s life that she truly considered ‘good’; Georgie and the Admiral. Her girlfriend and their cat (even if they did have dual custody over the Admiral with Jon). As long as she still had the two of them then everything would be okay. It had to be. Georgie seemed to fit in well enough but then again, Georgie never did fear anything. The Admiral also happened to be an absolute traitor, snuggling up to whoever happened to be petting him. But they were still hers. Georgie was still just  _ her girlfriend _ . Until she wasn’t. Melanie had nothing against the excessive polycule the others had going on. If they were happy then good for them! But there was no way she wanted to get involved. She couldn’t tolerate them enough for that. Georgie, however, could. She fit in with them perfectly, happily telling Melanie about how she spent her day talking with Brian or helping Raphaella, and how  _ Melanie really should just give them a chance _ . She always just snorted at that, giving Georgie a half-hearted “Maybe” as an answer. 

As time went on, Melanie did reluctantly begin to tolerate them. But they were  _ not _ friends. She had listened to Georgie describe them before and there was no way in hell Melanie would ever befriend someone that wore  _ multiple belts _ . Melanie couldn’t even see anymore and she knew it was a heinous crime against all forms of fashion. Her opinion of them had also lessened when Raphaella had offered to make her mechanical eyes - assuring her that it had been done before to Tim. She hadn’t hesitated to tell her to fuck right off. Melanie was  _ not _ some broken thing that needed looking after; that needed fixing. Still, they all had their moments of being likeable. Tim was fucking hilarious when he wanted to be. Jonny was an asshole. Ivy had...actually been trying to help. She had offered Melanie access to the audiobooks she had in her library. It was an offer she had actually taken her up on. Ivy had a surprisingly large collection of horror books and paranormal papers. It was nice to just divulge in it. She had reached a stalemate of tolerance towards the Mechanisms. 

Then Jonny fucked it up. 

It had been a decent enough evening. A group of them had gathered in one of the common areas and Melanie was comfortably curled into Georgie’s side. They were retelling some of their stories about their time on Earth. Jon had just finished one revolving around Elias’s identity as Jonah Magnus. Just thinking about Elias Bouchard in any capacity left a bad taste in her mouth. “I think I met him! Smug-looking entitled twink!” The way he cackled caused Melanie to cling to Georgie that little bit tighter. “I shot him point blank and Ashes burnt the building down! One hell of a date night.” 

SIlence filled the room at that. No. No. Elias wasn’t dead. She had spent so long with so much anger pent up towards the man.  _ He wasn’t allowed to be dead yet because she was supposed to be the one to fucking kill him _ . But now he was dead and she didn’t do it and her anger had been fucking  _ pointless _ . “I...I think I’m going to be sick.” Melanie bolted from the room. With one hand resting against the wall, the Aurora was quick to lead her to the nearest bathroom. 

There was nothing graceful about the way Melanie emptied the contents of her stomach into the toilets. She gagged and retched. She felt defeated. It wasn’t long until she felt someone gently pull her hair back as they moved to kneel down besides her. “Easy…” Melanie had never been the biggest fan of Jon but honestly? She had never been more glad for their presence. 

“It’s not fair.” Her voice was croaky as she spoke. It was the first time that Melanie realised that, on top of everything else, she was crying. No, not crying.  _ Sobbing _ . Her emotions were overwhelming. 

“I know.” 

“I...I should have been the one to kill him!” 

“I know.” Jon seemed to hesitate before pulling her close and Melanie just slumped into their arms. She clung to them as she broke down. If anyone knew the damage Elias could cause then it was Jon. They had been the one that had to deal with him the most; the protagonist of the story Elias had been trying to tell. Melanie and Jon had both suffered dearly because of him. Melanie cried until there were no more tears. Even then, she still stayed in Jon’s arms for a while longer; unwilling to give up the comfort and understanding she found within them. 

After that, Melanie spiralled. She lost control of herself. She would snap and snarl over the smallest things. Not even Georgie was safe from her girlfriend’s anger. She had no one left to direct her anger exclusively towards so everyone suffered for it. Melanie found herself spending her days by herself. She found her bed empty of any signs of Georgie every night. With no one left to tolerate her, Melanie’s anger became internalised. Her rage turned towards herself. She should have done something before she left.  _ She should have made sure Elias died!  _ She had a right to kill him! Then Jonny had gone and stolen it from her! Fuck him! Fuck everyone! 

Her anger turned into self-hatred and from that hatred came the nightmare. Sure, Melanie was well acquainted with nightmares by now. But none like this. None that distanced her so far from reality. She found herself back at the Magnus Institute. Specifically, she found herself in Elias’s office. But she wasn’t alone. No, there in the centre of the room was Elias himself with everyone she had ever cared for lined against the wall. Georgie. Jon. Her parents. Her friends. Hell, even the barista from the coffee shop she used to visit before the apocalypse.  _ Everyone that had ever had any impact on her life _ . Melanie found herself unable to move towards them. She found herself unable to move at all. All she could do was watch. 

Elias was ruthless. She had always known that, but her dream eagerly brought it to life. He worked his way through everyone. Hurting and torturing them before killing them until there were only two left. Jon and Georgie. Every part of her felt numb as she watched Elias slit Jon’s throat before turning his attention to Georgie.  _ No. Not her _ . He couldn’t have her! He couldn’t hurt her! Georgie...Georgie was good and fearless but the illogical dream seemed to forget that. Instead, it showed a false version of her girlfriend. It showed Georgie terrified and pleading and  _ Melanie couldn’t help her _ . As Elias lifted a hand towards her, Melanie screamed. She screamed louder and more fiercely than she ever had before. “ **No, stop!** Leave her the fuck alone!” 

Then the dream was gone and Melanie was greeted to a familiar darkness. Only it didn’t feel familiar. Nothing did. It took her far too long to remember where she was. The Aurora. Right. She was in space. She was a million miles from Earth; from the Magnus Institute. With unsteady legs, Melanie forced herself to stand. She forced herself to leave the room and just...wander. There was no way she would attempt sleep again. She couldn’t. But the dream wouldn’t leave her. Melanie couldn’t stop thinking about it; about Georgie’s illogically scared face or Jon’s brutal death or  _ everyone else that had been destroyed by Elias _ . 

Eventually Melanie found herself refusing to walk any further. She just slumped down against the wall and sobbed. She sobbed because even in her dreams she was  _ useless _ . She had never been able to save anyone. Not really. She had barely been able to save herself! SHe was just...not good enough! She was never good enough! “Fuck!” Melanie moved to throw a punch at the wall, eager to take her anger out on whatever was closest but  _ something  _ caught her wrist before she could. No, not  _ something _ . Someone. The hand was cold and far too sturdy to be human. Great.  _ It was one of them _ . 

“As the ship’s doctor, I strongly recommend against punching the wall.” Marius’s voice held none of its usual amusement or smugness. It was just...soft. Maybe even sincere - if Melanie thought he was capable of such a thing. He had never been as insufferable as the rest but that didn’t mean she liked him. She hated him. Just like she hated everyone. “It won’t be nearly as therapeutic as you think it will be. The Aurora is rather sturdy and the broken hand won’t be worth it. Not to mention Nastya’s anger at you hitting her girlfriend.” 

Melanie took a deep breath as she tried to snatch her hand away from him. Marius’s grip held strong. “Can you please just piss off?” She snarled, once more trying to hide vulnerability behind anger. “I really don’t want to deal with your shit right now, von Raum!” 

Marius let out the smallest of laughs at that. “You remind me of Lyf.” A fondness filled his voice at that. Lyfrassir Edda was perhaps the closest to normal any of the Mechanisms could be. They were...nice in their own way. Not that she would ever admit it. “But I’m not here to cause any problems.” He sighed as Melanie arched an eyebrow at him. “I promise.”

“Then why are you here?” She rested her head back against the cold metal. It was soothing in its own way. “What could you possibly want from me?” 

“Is it too terrible to think I might actually be  _ concerned _ about you.” Marius’s grip loosened on her wrist as he moved to slip his hand into hers. Melanie didn’t have the emotional strength to pull away. She sighed as he squeezed her hand gently. “...I’ve been concerned. We all have.” she tried to cut her off but he was quick to stop her. “Just...let me finish. Please.” Melanie closed her mouth. “Thank you. I know you think we’re all the scum of the universe without a single redeemable quality but we’re not. We do secretly have the ability to feel. You’re amongst perhaps the only group of people that understand your anger. Hell, Tim even blew up the moon out of anger!” 

Melanie couldn’t stop it. She let out a shaky laugh at that. “He  _ what? _ ” Her brain initially provided her with the mental image of Timothy Stoker blowing up the moon. He  _ was _ enough of a disaster to pull something like that. But then she realised that he meant Gunpowder Tim. Her brain had no mental image to offer her for that. “...Why?” 

“Well! That’s a story best told through song!” She found herself groaning. “...You really are like Lyfrassir.” Marius almost whined. The smallest of smiles crept onto her face. “Ah! Is that a smile I see, Ms King? And here I was thinking you incapable of such a thing.” 

“Fuck off.” Her voice held none of the animosity or emotion it had before. She just sounded exhausted. Still, her smile widened slightly. “Has anyone ever told you that you’re annoying?” 

“Regularly!” Marius proclaimed proudly. Melanie snorted at that. “I...I know you don’t have the best opinion of us, but we care about you. We’d probably even love you if you let us. We’re not- Well, we are absolutely terrible people but we do occasionally have the capacity to care.” 

“We’ll see.” She whispered. “Don’t go pushing your luck just yet.” Still, Melanie didn’t protest as a soft kiss was pressed to her cheek. It wasn’t  _ terrible _ . It would be a long time before she could completely let go of her anger, but maybe...maybe she didn’t have to deal with it alone. 

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kudos are always appreciated or hmu @ desert-lily on tumblr


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